Overland Park police issue phone scam warning involving the homeless

The new iPhone 5 is displayed during an Apple special event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on September 12, 2012 in San Francisco, California.

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OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - Overland Park police have cracked a telephone scam involving the homeless. It’s an unusual scam where criminals recruit the homeless in order to score new phones.

One Overland Park police officer said they arrested seven people who tried to rip off half a dozen Johnson County businesses, some of which are from the Chicago area.

According to police, the criminals recruit the homeless from shelters and blood banks to apply for cell phone service. They sign up for a two-year service contract in exchange for a new high-end cell phone then default on the contract.

The Johnson County district attorney will decide on charges.

One year ago, another group out of Detroit was arrested trying to pull off the same scam.

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